Netherfield CE Primary School

Since the introduction of the 2014 National Curriculum for Maths there is a very clear emphasis on the importance of children knowing their number facts and times tables thoroughly and having instant recall of this information. The expectation outlined in the National Curriculum is that children will ‘recall multiplication and division facts for multiplication tables up 12 x 12’ by the end of Year 4, (Department for Education Statutory Guidance National Curriculum in England: Mathematics programmes of Study 16 July 2014) and this will be tested in a new end of Key Stage 2 test commencing in June 2020. Consequently, we introduced the mental Maths programme called ‘Maths Passports’, starting in Reception and progressing through to Year 6.

Maths Passports are a personalised way of learning as the children are challenged in the passport at a level that is appropriate for the level they are working at. They progress at their own speed onto the next stage. Each child will be given a passport with a series of targets set out in continents. These targets get progressively more challenging through the school. The children will develop instant recall skills in all the objectives – they should not be taking time to work out the answer to each question; they need to know it instantly.

The aim is for children to complete all the passports by the time they are in Year 6.  Initially, it may seem that the learning they are doing is easy but it is vital that we check how fluent the children are in each.

1. The passport targets are incorporated into the children’s oral and mental starters on a regular basis.

2. Children are assessed on these targets once a week by completing a timed task.

3. When children have met an objective on three separate occasions, the target has been achieved.

4. Children continue to practice and be assessed on the remaining targets until all of the targets for a continent have been achieved. They will receive a certificate for this achievement in the Celebration Assembly held on a Friday afternoon. They can then move on to the next continent and a new set of targets.